It just got more embarrassing to be a meter maid in Seattle. In today's Times, we learn that the city has outfitted parking patrol officers with six Segway scooters – battery-operated devices that let the officers speed down the sidewalk at just over 12 miles an hour. The little scooters have shrill sirens and a light that flashes blue and red. But the joke's on us. Officers say Segways are pretty darn efficient. One said he'd written up to 80 parking tickets in an eight-hour shift.